The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami 240 pages

On the outskirts of Tokyo is The Nakano Thrift Shop where the owner likes to tell his customers that he deals in second hand goods and not antiques. Mr. Nakano’s employees are Hitomi, a young woman who works the cash register and is the narrator of the novel, and Takeo, a quiet young man who helps his boss with pick-ups and deliveries. Hitomi and Takeo’s relationship has the potential to become serious but neither knows how to get it to move forward. Although not an employee, Mr. Nakano’s sister is often at the shop helping out, serving noodles and offering her opinion about any and everything.

I enjoy Japanese literature and I found The Nakano Thrift Shop fun with quirky, yet realistic, characters, but I’m not sure this book would appeal to everyone.